


Ever After

by vinesse



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-03-02 19:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2823218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vinesse/pseuds/vinesse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young girl wakes up on a picture-perfect beach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ever After

When she first wakes up, flat on her back, sand in her hair, ocean lapping at her boots, she doesn’t remember where she is. She doesn’t open her eyes either, even when she feels something scuttle over her fingers. All she remembers is a blonde boy, his face staring at her from above with tears in his eyes, mouth open to say… something. Something she doesn’t remember anymore. She thinks it’s important though, and that’s enough to get her to open her eyes.  
  
She’s on a beach, a pristine beach, and the ocean now reaches her leather-clad thighs. It’s an odd feeling, so she stands slowly, brushing dirt from her coat and hair, dislodging a crab that chose to hang onto her sleeve. She presses a palm to her forehead, shielding her eyes from the sun, and tries to remember.  
  
"-Xion!"  
  
Xion’s eyes pop back open as she remembers, remembers what the blonde boy —Roxas, that’s his name, Roxas— was saying to as she was… dying? Xion nods slowly. She must have been dying. But that doesn’t explain where she is now. She takes a step back and stumbles, one hand flying to her mouth, and she bends over as she coughs, held by the feeling of numbness in her legs. It feels like she’s frozen, frozen solid, and fear claws at her stomach when her body refuses to do as she commands.  
  
“Who the hell are you.” The voice comes from somewhere to her left, and is accompanied by the sound of sand shifting under feet, but Xion can’t move, can’t do anything but stare at the ground in front of her as bile rises in her throat.  
  
The face that pops into her vision, the boy bending to look her in the eyes, isn’t kind or friendly. The planes of his face are made of sharp cheekbones and an almost-hooked nose, while bright yellow eyes glare at her from under heavy, dark eyebrows. “I said who the hell are you.” The boy waits for her response, then rolls his eyes, moving out of Xion’s line of sight, muttering to himself.  
  
Xion twitches as a hand settles on her shoulder, and there’s a whoosh of breath as the boy shoves her, watching as she falls onto her back. He studies her then, eyes narrowed in thought rather than in animosity, and finally he squats beside her, grass skirt swirling patterns into the sand. “Look, whatever your name is. I think I remember something about you, some of your memories. Whatever the hell your problem is, it’s not real anymore. This isn’t your real body. You can’t feel anything.”  
  
As she ponders his words slowly, Xion realizes that the boy’s right. There’s no longer a chill working it’s way to her heart, and as she slowly wiggles her toes inside her boots, she thinks she might be able to stand again. The boy’s still watching her though, so she figures that she better clear this up quick. “Look,” she begins, sitting up once more. “I don’t know who you are, or why you’re here, but I think it’s best if you leave. Now.”  
  
The raven-haired boy looks almost surprised then, eyebrows raised comically while he holds his mouth open in a soft ‘o’ shape, and as Xion watches she can almost pin-point the moment when the boy fills with disgust.  
  
“I think you sorely misunderstand the situation,” he says, and Xion silently admires the tenor of his voice, unlike the deep bass of Axel, and still different from the light tone of Roxas. “I was here before you, _puppet_ , and you’re not calling the shots here. You don’t even know where you are."  
  
Xion raises her eyebrows in response, mimicking the boy’s expression, but it only seems to make him angrier. “I don’t see your name on the beach, you must not own it.” Axel would be proud of her, if he was here. He had taught her that one on the clocktower between missions, and Roxas wasn’t pleased when she had used it against him. “It doesn’t matter if I don’t know where I am.” She pretends the word ‘puppet’ doesn’t strike a nerve.  
  
“Whatever.” The boy spins on his heel, skirt flaring out, and he starts to walk off.  
  
“You never told me your name!” Xion yells after him, voice cracking in the middle, and she feels blood rush to her cheeks. What was wrong with her?  
  
He keeps walking, and at first Xion doesn’t think he’s going to answer, but finally he turns his head to look back at her. “Vanitas.” With that he disappears around a bend, towards a small shack, and leaves Xion looking after him.  
  
 _Vanitas_ , she thinks, and the corner of her mouth twitches upwards as she watches the ocean waves.

It’s a while before Xion sees Vanitas again. She spends her time walking the island, but only on the beach. The forest in the middle is dark and silent, and the thought of it sends shivers down her spine. So of course, that’s where Vanitas returns from.  
  
He’s quiet as he exits the woods, and when he stops in front of her, Xion refuses to look up. She stares at her toes instead, finally freed of her shoes when she relented under the never-ending sunlight, stripping off her long cloak, gloves and boots, abandoning them on the shore somewhere. She wraps her arms around her middle as she waits for Vanitas to speak, self-conscious of her black tank top and sandy pants. She can’t remember ever feeling self-conscious, and the feeling throws her for a bit.  
  
“You’re inside Sora.” Xion looks up sharply as he speaks, but Vanitas is staring at the ocean instead of her. His voice is low, and he sounds unsure of himself, but Xion doesn’t think on that. She mulls over the name, ‘Sora’, and the memories hit her like a bullet from Xigbar’s gun.   
  
Vanitas looks at her finally as she inhales in a sharp whistle, smirking at her white face. “Oh, now you remember. Good job.” His voice is sarcastic, and he kicks a shell into the water. “You completed your mission, died for this stupid, stupid child.”  
  
“He’s not stupid,” Xion whispers, voice tight. “He’s going to set Kingdom Hearts free. He’s going to save worlds.”  
  
“Whatever you want to believe. As far as I’m concerned, he’s going to hesitate at the last second, and one wrong move is going to cost him his useless, pathetic life—”   
  
There’s a sharp slap of skin on skin, and Vanitas stares at her like she’s lost her mind, one hand rising to cover the imprint of her palm on his cheek. There’s something dancing in his eyes, almost like amusement, but his lips stay in a narrow line as Xion speaks. “He’s not useless, or pathetic. He’s a part of me, and if you’re here, a part of you too. So don’t you talk about him like that. Don’t you dare!” She pokes a finger into his chest then, a warm glow of satisfaction beginning in her chest as the taller boy steps back. “You know nothing about what you’re talking about, nothing at all, so I suggest you stop!”  
  
“You’re the one that knows nothing,” Vanitas replies, but he stops himself after that, studying her with his head cocked to the side. It’s a second before he speaks again, just long enough for Xion’s glare to transform into a considering gaze. “I was not meant to become a part of him. I was meant for worse things. I’ll talk about him how I want, and you’re not going to stop me, little bird.”  
  
Xion reaches to her side in reflex, waiting for the response of her keyblade, and she flushes as Vanitas laughs. “You think you could still wield it here,” he taunts, “You really do know nothing."

It’s worth it to see the smile slide right off his face as Xion tackles him into the sand, rolling with him on the beach. Vanitas lets off a string of swears, many Xion believes he came up with on the spot, and Xion shoves a fist of sand into his face. Soon she admits defeat, pinned to the ground underneath Vanitas, and he’s yelling at her but she can’t be bothered to care.   
  
“—the hell was that for?” Vanitas roars, swiping at the sand in his hair.  
  
“You were being an asshole,” Xion tells him, moving to bite his arm. He quickly lets go, shoving her away, still working on the sand in his hair and watching her with an expression that can only be defined as ‘miffed’ and ‘shocked’ all at once. “You had to be taught a lesson.”  
  
Vanitas’s lips move a little, just a little, and Xion smirks back.

* * *

Xion slowly begins to realize they have a pattern. It’s not verbally agreed on, but soon she comes to understand that Vanitas will emerge from the forest, and when he does, he’ll find her.  
  
Vanitas helps her cut the legs off her jeans, turning them into shorts that are suited for the sun’s heat. He helps her clean out the shack left abandoned on the forest’s edge, and even shows her a spring to wash out her hair and clothes. For some reason, there’s a bar of soap left on the rim of the naturally made stone tub, and it never seems to get smaller. Xion decides to not question it.  
  
The more they talk, the more Xion begins to understand. He’s been trapped here, trapped for years inside Sora’s heart, and before she came along, there was no one else.  
  
He explains that they’ll never go hungry, they don’t even really have to sleep if they want, but Xion maintains that she does. She doesn’t know if it’s a left over instinct from her Organization days as a puppet, but she prefers to drift off to dreamless rest.  
  
Vanitas leads her into the forest one day, and it’s eerily quiet, absent of birds and animals. Xion admires the shade, but doesn’t go back in. Vanitas comments on it, calls her stupid, tries to get a rise out of her, but she refuses.  
  
Often, they’ll sit on the tree that overlooks the water, one that’s in the perfect shape of a bench with just enough room for at least three people to sit on. From the tree, Xion imagines that she can just see the faint outline of land in the far distance.   
  
“Are we stuck here forever? Is this what we have until the end of time?”  
  
Vanitas looks up sharply from the stick he’s sharpening to a point, and watches her with thoughtful eyes. The more questions she asks, the less bitter he becomes. “I guess. It’s not life but I’ll take it over death.”  
  
Xion nods in response, stretching her suntanned arms high, and looks at the shells he’s taken to collecting for her. “It’s not so bad, I guess. At least we have company.”  
  
“If you can call yourself that.” Vanitas smirks at her, but Xion’s grown used to it, and no longer minds his pointed grins.

“Why hasn’t Roxas come?” Xion looks up from the necklace she’s making out of shells, twine found by Vanitas in a long-forgotten corner of her hut.  
  
“I don’t know,” Vanitas replies, brushing sand off his palms. “Maybe he won’t. Maybe he won’t join Sora. I don’t fucking know.”  
  
“If he doesn’t join Sora, will Sora ever wake up?”  
  
“Doubtful.”  
  
“Roxas will join him,” Xion decides, smiling down as she ties the last knot. “I know he will.” She glances at the other, before lazily dropping the necklace around his neck. Vanitas doesn’t react more than a swift glance, but he doesn’t take it off either.

* * *

One day, Xion arrives at her shack to find a necklace strung carved figures on the doorknob. They’re rough, some even unidentifiable, but she loops them around her neck all the same. When Vanitas appears again, he doesn’t mention her new accessory, and Xion chooses to make no remark.  
  
It’s been a while since Xion woke up on the sand, water lapping at her feet, and as they watches the waves from their customary tree, Xion runs her fingers through Vanitas’s hair as his head rests against her leg, fingers brushing against the line of the necklace she made. They don't talk much anymore, there isn't really anything left to say, so instead they just stay close, watching the hypnotic motions of the sea inside Sora's heart.  
  



End file.
